The Beautiful Monster

Twelve years later

"He's going downstairs! Stop him, Mel!" Tyler's voice sounded throughout the two-story house.

Melina ran through the kitchen toward the foyer, hearing loud footsteps as the witch they were chasing made a run for the door. She darted into the hallway, looking toward the open front door to see the witch running for it.

Narrowing her eyes, she swiped her hand, slamming the door shut from ten feet away. She snapped her fingers, locking the door to keep the witch from escaping.

The witch was a lanky, young man with anger issues and a grudge against Tyler and Melina's latest client. He had tried to plant a spell bag in their client's room, but Melina easily sensed its dark magic. They hadn't been able to trap the witch until now. Finally, they could take care of him.

"You bitch!" the witch shouted before whirling around, preparing to cast a harmful spell at her.

Melina prepared to defend herself with a defensive spell, standing her ground as she faced him. She didn't scare that easily.

She had been struck with numerous spells, knocked off her feet by ruthless vampires, and even broken a few bones from tough fights. She was resilient, though. The job needed to be finished.

Before the witch could lift his hand, Tyler darted down the stairs at vampiric speed, slamming his hand against the witch's chest so hard that he flew through the door.

The wood splintered upon impact. He stepped through the hole where the door was, walking over to the witch's lifeless body. His chest and heart had been crushed from the blow.

Melina followed Tyler, moving to his side and staring down at the witch. Good thing that they were at a house in the middle of nowhere. The neighbors would've been extra disturbed by this sight tonight.

"I'll take care of the spell bag if you take care of the body," she told him with a sugary sweet smile.

Tyler chuckled, shaking his head at her.

"Fine. Then, we're going out on a date. We deserve it after dealing with this tough bastard," he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked down at the witch.

"Sounds like a plan," Melina quipped. She pecked Tyler on the cheek before heading back into the house to destroy the spell bag. Another job was finally completed. She couldn't count how many they had done over the years. It became like second nature.

Of course, Melina hadn't expected to live on the road and protect innocent lives from evil supernatural beings for twelve years, but that was how life had played out.

She continued to move around, not wanting to stay in one place until she was sure that Alaric wasn't a threat any longer. About a year ago, he seemed to have just disappeared.

Maybe the threat was gone. Maybe she could finally settle down with Tyler like they always hoped to. It almost felt too good to be true, but she was ready to get a house and maybe even start a family.

She enjoyed her job with Tyler, but she wanted to experience a new adventure with him.

She decided to bring it up at dinner, wanting to know what Tyler thought about finally settling down. It was a risky decision, which was why they hadn't done it yet.

Whenever they tried to put down roots, something weird happened somewhere in the country that had Alaric written all over it. Murders, disappearances, cult-like gatherings and happenings. He had been busy for years getting stronger, but Melina had gotten stronger too.

Over the years, she kept practicing magic, using it for her job and personally too. She learned new spells and made sure she was kept sharp on old ones.

If Alaric ever decided to come after her, she would be as ready as possible. So far, he hadn't made a move, so she couldn't help but think that the threat had finally passed.

As Melina and Tyler sat in a booth in the back corner of a sushi restaurant, food was the last thing on her mind. She picked at her dragon roll, unable to stop thinking about the decision that she wanted to make. She was still unsure, though.

"What's wrong? You've hardly touched your food," Tyler asked from across the table, giving her a concerned look.

Melina gave him a comforting smile, reaching her hand out to take his. She didn't want him to worry. He had stood by her side all of these years, loving her and protecting her. Her parents had made a good decision by choosing him to be her protector. After meeting her parents after graduation, it became obvious to her that they did care for her.

Their decision to separate their twins and give Melina to Benjamin while keeping her brother, Elias, had nearly crushed them. However, their care for their children was stronger than their sadness about separating them. It had been for the best. After everything that Melina experienced relating to Alaric, she understood their decision, even if it had been a heartbreaking one.

She had only seen them a few times over the past twelve years, but each visit was warm and welcoming. She just couldn't see them all that often because she was busy with her job, and she didn't want to accidentally come across Elias if he decided to randomly visit.

He had been known to pop up randomly. She was allowed to see pictures of him, and she could tell that they were twins.

They had the same hair and smile. It pained her that she couldn't ever meet him, but she didn't want Alaric to put his sights back on them.

"I think Alaric is finally gone," Melina told Tyler.

"Why do you think that?" Tyler asked her.

"Nothing has happened in a year. No one has seen him or his followers. I think someone killed him, or he just gave up and went into hiding," Melina replied with a hopeful look on her face.